Patriots Notes: Brady, Practice, Receivers...

Is Tom Brady done with making predictions? Where will the teams practice? The receiver connection and more in this notebook from Eric Hartz.

Patriots Will Have Privacy for Workouts:

There are plenty of fan-friendly
opportunities during Super Bowl week, but any Patriots fans hoping to
catch a glimpse of the team at practice will be disappointed.

New England will practice at the Colts'
headquarters, located on West 56th Street, which is north and west of
the city and outside the 465 loop. The facility is in a beautiful area,
on the edge of the Eagle Creek Reservoir and Park — the city's largest
park and one of the largest municipal parks in the United States.

The Giants will practice at the
University of Indianapolis, which is a few minutes south of Downtown
and in theory accessible to the public hoping to catch a glimpse of the
team coming and going. Fans will have no such luck at the Colts'
facility, which sits at the end of a long driveway with a security
presence guarding the drive at all times.

Both team's headquarters in Indy have
indoor practice facilities, and practices are not open to the public,
although the NFL will have pool reporters cover the practices.

Sunday, either Eli Manning or Tom Brady
will walk off the Lucas Oil Stadium field as a winning quarterback for
the first time. Neither QB has had a successful outing there, although
each has played just one game in the Colts' stadium, which opened
during the 2008 season.

Brady missed that 2008 game — and the
majority of the season — with a knee injury. The Patriots and Matt Cassel lost a close one, 18-15, that year.

Brady's one previous game at "the Luke"
was a monster. He had three TDs and 375 yards on 29-of-42 passing in a
2009 contest with the Colts, but needed one more passing yard. The
now-infamous decision to go for a fourth-and-two came up just short,
and Peyton Manning drove the Colts on a short field for a 35-34 victory.

Eli Manning was also sent home a loser
by his brother's team in his one previous trip to Indianapolis. The
Colts took a 38-14 win over the Giants in 2010. Manning had 161 yards
on 13-of-24 passing, with two TDs and an interception.

Brady is 3-2 all time in Indiana. He
guided the Patriots to wins at the RCA Dome in 2001, 2003 and 2007. He
lost the 2009 game at Lucas Oil Stadium, and also the 2006 AFC
Championship at the RCA Dome. Brady has a quarterback rating of 102 in
his five games in Indianapolis. Manning's is 85.5.

Brady Plays It Safe on Media Day:

Tom Brady appeared relaxed and cheerful
in his Media Day interview Tuesday, but declined make any predictions
about the outcome of the game.

Brady famously put his foot in his mouth
the last time the Patriots played the Giants in the Super Bowl,
responding to a prognostication made by then-Giant Plaxico Burress.

It's been four years since the Patriots
and Giants played in Super Bowl XLII, and the rosters have undergone
roster turnover that is typical in the NFL over that time. But perhaps
no position has undergone more change than the receiving corps for both
teams.

Tom Brady and Eli Manning are both back
at quarterback for their respective teams, of course, and that may be
the biggest piece. But the men catching passes are quite different.

Of the players that caught passes in
XLII, only the Patriots' Wes Welker (a game-high 11 catches for 103
yards), Kevin Faulk (seven catches, 52 yards) and the Giants' Ahmad Bradshaw (one catch, three yards) return for this game.